Charles, a young American sculptor in Rome is drawn into the unpredictable world of Italian politics by Maria, a beautiful Italian woman. She is dedicated to the work of a subversive secret society intent on ending the temporal power of the papacy. After they marry, she is asked to assist Margaret Fuller, the famous American writer visiting Rome. Fuller falls in love with a much younger Italian aristocrat, but tries to conceal this romance from her American friends.

Repeated demonstrations protesting the rule of the new pope, Pius IX, and brutal assassination of his prime minister, results in the pope’s loss of control over the Papal States and formation of a new democratic Republic of Rome in 1849. A siege of Rome by the French army attempting to restore the papacy follows.

Charles and Fuller’s lover become part of Garibaldi’s defense of Rome. Fuller and her lover flee Rome to Florence. Charles and Maria follow and join the Fullers on their tragic return voyage to America.





  

  

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